Denmark’s Aalborg Pirates are mathematically still alive in this year’s Champions Hockey League Playoff chase but they will surely have to win both of their remaining games in regulation time, starting with Wednesday night’s encounter with HC Innsbruck.

Aalborg opened with an impressive-looking overtime loss to defending champions Tappara Tampere but have come up empty in the three games since. Innsbruck, meanwhile, are among five teams that have six points and enter Game Day 5 on the positive side of the Playoff cut-off but if they want to stay there, they can’t afford to drop points against teams they should beat.

While both teams have had their issues scoring in the CHL so far, they both rank in the bottom five in terms of goals against, so both teams’ offences might see this as a chance to score some goals. Aalborg are one of the more physical teams in the competition with 9.25 hits per game, which is tied for third.

With an average of 24:26 of ice time, Aalborg defenceman Anders Koch is tied for second-best in that department. The team has four players with two points each – Canadians Pierre-Olivier Morin and Calder Brooks each have two goals.

Americans Corey Mackin and Gordon Green are Innsbruck’s co-leaders with four points each. Evan Buitenhaus has played every minute in goal for Innsbruck in the CHL so far and leads the competition with 130 saves.

As defending champions in Denmark, the Pirates once again lead their league and return to CHL play with a four-game winning streak domestically. Innsbruck are currently fourth in the 13-team iCE with 18 points after 10 games.